We hope you have had an excellent start
to the new year, where has January gone?

Buy-to-Let Analysis

Here we are in February, back into the
swing of things, with this being our
second issue of the year, and in-turn, we
are also celebrating our second Landlord
Investment Show of 2015 already.

Your Property Partner

In this issue, we cover Kent's buy to
let hotspots as Kate Faulkner analyses
the local area and it's investment
opportunities. Marie Parris tells us
how to deal with tenants who are
made redundant and unable to pay
their rent and our leading story this
month is covered by Mark Trainor of
Pennymatters, as well as Tom Entwistle
of LandlordZONE: Pensions vs Property,
the hottest debate in town.

Tracey Hanbury
Tenants History
Southbridge House
Southbridge Place
Croydon CR0 4HA
Statements and opinions expressed in articles, reviews and other materials herein are
those of the authors; the editors and publishers. While every care has been taken in
the compilation of this information and every attempt made to present up-to-date and
accurate information, we cannot guarantee that inaccuracies will not occur. Tenants
History Limited and our contributors will not be held responsible for any claim, loss,
damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within these pages or
any information accessed through the promoted links.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT OUR 2015 SHOWS, PLEASE GET IN CONTACT WITH A MEMBER OF THE TEAM ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE
OR ALTERNATIVELY, VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: WWW.LANDLORDINVESTMENTSHOW.CO.UK

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

6

BUY TO LET ANALYSIS

IS ASHFORD A
GREAT PLACE
TO BUY TO LET?
Kate Faulkner - Propertychecklists.co.uk
With property being tipped as the ‘new’ pension provider for the UK and prices in the South East
growing by 11.4% according to the Land Registry 2014 versus 2013, it’s not a surprise that many think
this is a great way to invest their hard earned cash.

...INVESTING IN
PROPERTY CAN BE
AN UNREGULATED
INVESTMENT...
The problem with investing in property is that unlike
stocks and shares, pensions and other financial investments, it’s not regulated and in my view, the level
of quality advice and analysis on what property can
deliver from an investment perspective is extremely
poor.
A good example is the way property prices are often
‘reported’. In the main the reports tell you how property prices grow year on year and month on month.
So for the Kent area, property prices are up year on
year by 10.6% and month on month +1.6%. This is
often translated into huge increases which don’t take
into account everything you need to know from an
investment perspective. For example, if you bought
a property in 2013 for £150,000, on average it would
be worth now over £165,000 – a £15,000 increase,
in theory.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

But what they won’t tell you from an investment perspective is that all investments are subject to the effects of inflation and costs of buying and selling as
well as tax – if it’s a property in addition to your own
home.

1. If you bought the property with cash, the cost of
living went up by 1.5% from 2014 versus 2013, so for
your money to buy you the same in 2014 as it would
have done in 2013, then the property would have
needed to have sold for £152,250.

2. It costs around £3,000 to buy a property and like-

ly the same to sell it, so if you bought and sold the investment within a year, you would incur £6,000 costs
to enter and exit the investment.

3. Then there is tax. Any money you make on a prop-

erty which isn’t and was never your home is subject
to capital gains tax. And, depending on your personal
financial circumstances, if you pay 20% income tax
during a year, you’d pay 18% on any earnings from
your property and 28% if you are a higher tax payer.
So although a £15,000 increase sounds great, by the

7

What a year on year increase doesn’t explain either
is that if you bought a property back in 2007, before
the credit crunch, property prices hit an all-time high.
Prices in Kent for example, according to the Land
Registry were, on average just over £200,000. They
then fell to £167,000 by 2009, that’s a 16.5% fall –
something everyone seems to have forgotten about
in the last 12 months! And although prices did grow
by over 10% in the last year, this was, in reality, property prices recovering to their previous heights. Today, according to the Land Registry, property prices
are just £2,000 higher than they were in 2007 – six
years ago.
This doesn’t mean that buy to let isn’t a good investment though – quite the opposite. But, many people
and property investment pundits think and give the
impression that property investment is a ‘sure thing’
and it’s ‘easy’ to make lots of money. It isn’t and since
the credit crunch, many buy to let investors have
gone bust in spectacular style.
To be successful at buy to let, you need to firstly
understand the principles of investing in a property
to let out. These are typically that you need to own
the property for a long time – fifteen to twenty years
and it’s wise to ‘gear’ your investment via a mortgage
rather than buy with cash as it boosts your returns.
Secondly, you need to understand how properties fair

from a price and rental perspective in the area you
are looking to invest. To date, property prices in Kent
have done well. On average for England and Wales,
property prices have grown in value by just under
6% per year since 2000, but in Kent, the growth has
been better at 6.3% per year, partly thanks to the location being so close to London. So from a long term
property price growth, Kent has, in the past delivered
well. But the forecasts are that prices will grow at a
lower rate in the future, with the likes of Savills, Chestertons and Knight Frank forecasting house prices
growing between 3-5% per year in the South East,
not as good as in the past, but still healthy property
price growth compared to other areas.
From a rental income perspective, rents in the South
East tend to varies from £800 to £1,000, which according to Your Move and Reed’s Rains Buy to Let
Index, this gives a yield of just under 5%. The Belvoir
Index which tracks rents back as far as March 2008,
show rents in Kent are around £865 per month. This
is giving landlords a healthy increase of 6% year on
year - way above inflation which tends to be rare for
rents. The best performing areas are Sidcup and
Rochester. But as with property prices, this is really
rents in recovery. Just like prices fell from 2007 to
2009, so rents in the area (and nationally) dipped in
2009 and 2010, ending up with rents in Kent now
being about the same as they were at the start of the
index in 2008.

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

BUY TO LET ANALYSIS

time you take into account inflation, costs and then
tax, that isn’t anywhere near the growth it initially
suggests from an investment perspective.

BUY TO LET ANALYSIS

8

What these figures prove is that as with any type of
investment, the reality is your returns will depend
on how well you bought the property for and from
a rental perspective, whether you have maintained it
properly and if it’s in an area where tenant demand
is growing or if you want to exit at a profit, buyers are
waiting and willing to purchase.
And the only way to make sure you maximise your
property investment returns is to get the best advice
and analysis from independent experts and that’s
what the Landlord Investment Show is for. I’ll be presenting there on the 5th February with an in-depth
presentation on essential buy to let investment facts
and figures and running my free property clinic to
help answer any questions you may have about
whether investing in property is right for you through
to what to do next if you have a multiple property
portfolio.
For more information on analysing buy to let investments, including free calculators to use and keeping
up to date with what’s really happening to property
prices and rents, visit www.propertychecklists.co.uk
⌂

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

MEET KATE, WHO WILL
BE HOLDING SEMINARS
AT ALL OF THE LANDLORD
INVESTMENT SHOWS THIS
YEAR INCLUDING:
READING - APRIL
LONDON OLYMPIA - JUNE
NORTH LONDON/HERTS - SEPT
MANCHESTER - OCTOBER
LONDON OLYMPIA - NOVEMBER
www.landlordinvestmentshow.co.uk

SEE OUR CHECKLISTS FOR ALL THE
BUY TO LET HELP YOU WILL NEED
www.propertychecklists.co.uk

T: 01652 641 722

10

PENSIONS

PENSIONS AND
RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY
Mark Trainor - Pennymatters

WHY WOULD
ANYONE WRITE AN
ARTICLE ABOUT
PENSIONS AND
RESIDENTIAL
PROPERTY WHEN
ON THE SURFACE
THEY ARE NOT
RELATED?
There was a time under the Labour Government that
Gordon Brown announced that he was going to permit inclusion of buy-to-lets in a pension plan called a
Self-Invested Pension Plan (SIPP). It was hailed at the
time as being a great boost to the housing industry
and the alignment of a bricks and mortar investment
as being a long term pillar of pension planning was
welcome.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

There was much euphoria and activity as the bricks
and mortar brigade started to ready themselves to
accomplish this. Thousands of people went out and
set up a SIPP and awaited the detailed legislation on
what degree of borrowing would be permitted in the
final rules. The proposals were put in the public domain early in the year with the actual legislation and
detail to be published later. This being normal policy,
masses of people went ahead with their plans and
a great weight of prospective buy-to-let properties
were earmarked to go into pensions. The autumn
statement in December 2005 did not put the final
rules in place but actually scrapped the plan completely together with other investments into SIPPs.
There was an outcry of foul, and those who lost money on setting up SIPPs had to effectively wear it on
their sleeves!

11

He proposed far reaching changes across the board
with pensions and the announcements on the 19th
March led to massive falls in the share price of some
annuity providers. The rules concerning death benefits, the flexibility of access of pension funds, and
the ability to hand pension funds down generations
were all headline grabbing. The new rules are due
to come in with the Tax year 2015/16, but as we all
know the devil is in the detail and would this live up
to expectations when the rules were actually published, or would they be scrapped or watered down
prior to being adopted.
Forgive me for not doing cartwheels but the scars left
by Mr Brown led me to promote a deal of caution in
planning for these events. There was great rhetoric
in the press about Grannies buying Lamborghini's,
and serious concerns about people who would damage their futureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s by spending all their pensions too
quickly. We awaited the committee stages of the legislation thinking that the ideas and headlines would
be watered down, but no, the bill received Royal Assent on the 17th December.

The bulk of pensions taken out since 1988 are money purchase personal pensions. These are pensions
built up by monthly contributions that an individual makes with tax relief on their premiums and can
be invested in a variety of different funds. They then
build up with growth and additional contributions to
produce a pot of money for the time when the individual wants to retire. They would either take tax
free cash or not from the fund, and then purchase
an annuity that would pay them an income from that
point for the rest of their life. Annuities are the way
in which a sum of money is converted to a monthly
income, and this is done with reference to a rate of
borrowing called a gilt yield. When gilt yields are high,
the annuity rate is high and consequently a relatively
large pension is purchased. One of the reasons that
pensions have been much maligned in the last few
years is the relatively low gilt rate and correspondingly a smaller than expected pension. Gilt yields and
annuity rates are at or near an all-time low currently, so the actual rule changes are very welcome for
those people who up to now would have bought an
annuity. Purchasing an annuity in the near future is
now likely to be the exception rather than the rule.

Prior to 1988 the bulk of people who were in pensions were in pensions sponsored by their Employers and had benefits related to their salary. These so
called final salary schemes were often thought of as
being the very best pensions and ones that gave index linked benefits such as the Civil Service etc. were
the gold mark of pensions. If you were lucky enough
to have a final salary pension scheme you took no
risk with your pension and you earned an increas-

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

PENSIONS

Roll the clock on to 2014 and we had a Tory Chancellor proposing the biggest shake up in pensions ever.
The announcement on the 19th March 2014 was a
closely guarded one, and it took the whole industry
by surprise. George Osborne apparently had lost his
patience trying to deal with the life assurance companies and decided to fundamentally change our
pensionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landscape forever.

PENSIONS

12

ing proportion of your salary the longer you worked
there, upon your eventual retirement. As the gilt rate
and annuity rate has declined, the actual amount of
money the Pension scheme needs to support an individual final salary pension rises. This effect has led
to over half of the final salary schemes being shut
down as they are too expensive to maintain. For people who have left their employer and have not drawn
their final salary pension scheme, they have the right
to request a transfer value from the trustees of the
scheme. This transfer value is now standing at an alltime high relative to the benefit. The actual value of
the transfer fund offered in lieu of the pension can
be quite a large sum, and specialist advice should be
sought prior to making any decision in this regard.

pension arena are leading some to think that monies
will come out of equity based investments in pension
funds and be put into bricks and mortar investments
like buy- to- lets. This will happen but is likely to be
a relatively small number initially, so is unlikely on its
own to spur a buying frenzy in the property market.

WHAT DOES A BUY-TO-LET
PROPERTY GIVE YOU?
Direct access to an asset class that is difficult to replicate inside a pension arrangement. The funds in this
area available from the market tend to have a bias
towards commercial buildings.

Those people who have accrued significant benefits
in pension schemes and are at age 55 or older will
have a new way of looking at their pensions going
forward. It may be that they want to access the tax
free cash to be able to complete a deal. It may be
that they want to draw down some taxable income
from their pot at a lower rate than they would do in
the following year. These new rules will be available
from April 2015 but are not available for people in
final salary schemes. From April transfers from unfunded public sector schemes will no longer be able
to take place so if you were in a position to be looking
at this time is of the essence. It is not known if transfers from other final salary schemes will be stopped
in the future, but we do know that you have the legal
right to ask for the transfer value once a year, and
this is still the case. Interpreting the values and incorporating them in a financial plan are the drivers
for any individual. The post April freedoms within the

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

Residential property owned as an investment has
risks in the form of leverage, as the balance of the
value of asset moves against the amount of any
loan on it. Also the exposure to the behaviour of
the tenant which could lead to periods where you
are denied rent which has a direct impact on your
own income. Rather than delegating the failure or
success of letting to an investment manager you can
take control of the decisions to be made. Part of the
decision you will have is whether you are looking for
income or growth in your portfolio and the financing
of any buy-to-let.
Most buy-to-let investors have the notion that they
will form a property empire and that bricks and mortar are the best investment media. In reality those
people who actually achieve the successful transformation to become a property baron have actually
learnt a few things on the way. They must understand
the relationship between the cost of the asset they
are purchasing and the yield that it gives them. The
amount of leverage they have and the base cost of
their finance have a great bearing on the success or
otherwise of any particular investment. The supply
and demand of a particular area is affected by local
issues and as such looking to spread assets in different areas will no doubt decrease the dependence on
a particular trait of an area.

13

IF YOU HAD A LIMITLESS AMOUNT
OF CASH WHAT WOULD YOU BUY?

The same is true of the fixed income market place.
The fixed income market includes corporate bonds,
cash deposits and treasuries. Currently the price of
all these is effectively too high, which in turn gives
rise to a very low yield. Combining this with a significant capital risk is why investors are shunning
fixed interest securities currently. The only upside
is that the Europeans have just announced they will
be making an asset purchase programme of Fixed
interest securities until September 2016, so this will
somewhat stabilise the higher prices.

Do you know what your final income stream may be
from your pensions, current and paid up personal
ones, previous employerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schemes? If you do then
you are in a better position than many. If not why not
make some enquiries? After all you want to have the
best possible outcome, this will only be achieved if
you have all the information.
â&#x152;&#x201A;
To discuss this further contact us:
T: 01344 988390
E: enquiries @pennymatters.co.uk
W: http://www.pennymatters.co.uk

`

Property in the broadest sense is the last of the three
big investment types. Property is not just residential,
but can be warehouses, offices, retail and manufacturing. Like other investments there are two ways of
making money from residential property, in letting it
out there will be some sort of yield less costs, and
over a period of time some capital appreciation from
a rising price. In adding these two together we get
to a total return figure. The simple demand curve of
more people requiring houses in the UK than are in
supply, leads us to think that there will be a steady
rise in price. The likely raising of rates from an alltime low leads us to think that the property prices
will fall. Here is the uneasy balance in the market
place.
This is where an experienced professional broker
can help with controlling what will probably be the
highest ongoing cost of a buy-to-let which is the loan
on a property. This has many inputs to get the best
rate and duration. If by looking at other ways of augmenting the deposit, it may be possible to get to an
optimum situation. Clearly the new pension rules will
only affect those at age 55 or over;but they are an

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

PENSIONS

In a negative sense many people have taken on
board share tips and lost out badly. Commentators
and economists worldwide try to predict the movement of global markets and currently we are seeing
record highs in both the USA and in Germany. In
buying an equity or share, there are normally two
things that the share may do in the future. The first
is that it may rise or fall in value, and the second is it
may pay a dividend. When assessing this as an asset
class you would then, on a total return basis, have to
add the price movement to the dividend to get the
entire return.

ever increasing proportion of our population so the
use by some, of pension funds in the near future,
will be on the increase. As mentioned earlier we have
seen an evolution taking place over recent years as
final salary schemes have been shut down and potential improvement in value of future income for the
scheme members who have left has been depressed
by circumstances beyond their immediate control.

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LOCAL COUNCIL

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ESSEX - COLCHESTER
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BOOK YOUR FREE SHOW TICKETS TO FAST-TRACK YOUR ENTRY BY VISITING:

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15

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LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

16

PENSION

PENSIONS

POSSIBILITIES AND
BUY-TO-LET SUCCESS
Tom Entwistle - LandlordZONE

IS THE PROSPECT
OF PUTTING YOUR
RETIREMENT
SAVINGS INTO
THE PROPERTY
MARKET AND
BECOMING A BUYTO-LET LANDLORD
ATTRACTING YOU?
According to the financial services firm, Hargreaves
Lansdown, more than one in 10 pension savers
plan to take their entire lifetime savings out of
their pension pot, and around 16 per cent of those
people want to reinvest it in buy-to-let property.
The opportunity to invest in good old bricks and
mortar, beyond simply owning your own home,
and making a regular income from tenants at the
same time, is bound to seem attractive to many
people when interest rates are low and stock
market investments are volatile.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

Pension freedom reforms allowing over-55s to
access all their savings for old age in one go from
next April will suddenly make this scenario a reality
- an affordable opportunity for a lot more people.
So, property versus pensions is fast becoming the
biggest financial debate in town. But is property a
better bet than a pension? According to Hargreaves
Lansdown thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty of people who think it
will be. Enthusiasts say that anyone getting into
buy-to-let today will have a far larger nest egg at
retirement, as well as a better long-term income
through rising rents.
The rapid growth of buy-to-let, from around 8% of
all households renting in the 1980s to something
like 18 per cent today, means the number of UK
private landlords is heading towards two million.
Demand for renting is transforming home
ownership in Britain and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no sign of this
abating any time soon. Take a growing population,
increased immigration and an expanding student
population and couple this with a shortage of
housing and you have a market which is predicted
to continue growing for some time to come.

17

The way to combat this is for all new landlords
to take some responsibility and be determined
to operate their lettings to high professional
standards.

- 20 years ago landlords numbered in their tens
of thousands, whereas today almost two million
private landlords own 4.9 million properties
- The number of buy-to-let properties is expected
to grow by a further million over the next five
years
- The current value of buy-to-let properties is
estimated at just short of £1 trillion - £989bn
Surprisingly, the financial crisis has not slowed the
growth of buy-to-let - some of the fastest growth
years have followed the banking crisis of 2008-09.
Of all the new homes built in recent years, a large
proportion has ended up in the private rented
sector. Of the 5m homes built between 1986 and
2012 Government figures show just over half are
owned by buy-to-let landlords.
Most experienced landlords will tell you that
investing in property can be a lucrative business.
With steady capital growth and a regular rental
income it’s a great way to safeguard your longterm investment and even pass on wealth to the
next generation.
However, like most business opportunities,
investing in buy-to-let may not be all plain sailing,
and if you want to make a success of the venture
then you must be prepared to do your homework
and for some hands-on management – buy-to-let
is not a passive armchair investment.

Location is important. Where you buy is as
important if not more important that what you buy.
You must ensure that there is good tenant demand
and ideally your properties should be within a short
distance from home. Doing thorough research on
the local lettings market and your potential returns
on investment is crucial.
Often new landlords are far too trusting and
unaware of the problems that some tenants bring
with them. Careful screening of tenant applicants
is a very important part of being a successful
landlord investor.
If you intend to use a letting agent, make sure
you choose one with a good local reputation and
one that’s a member of a recognised professional
association.
If you intend to be a hands-on landlord, managing
tenancies yourself, you need to learn to manage
professionally: read up on the rules and
regulations, keep your property up to modern
safety and amenity standards, and always respond
quickly to requests for maintenance and repairs.
Treat your tenants as customers and as you would
expect to be treated yourself.
There are few investments like property which
offer you the opportunity to make quite the same
money with so little time and effort on your part,
if you get yourself organised. But don’t fall into
the trap of thinking you can do it with no work; no
mental effort or careful planning on your part.
Tom Entwistle is Editor of LandlordZONE® and an
experienced landlord himself.
⌂

The private rented sector has been coming in for a
fair amount of criticism recently, mainly as a result
of a small minority of rogues in the industry, both
landlords and letting agents who quite frankly are
ripping off their tenants.

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

PENSIONS

As a result of this there’s the constant threat of
more rules and regulations which governments
impose on the industry. From agent redress
schemes and landlord licensing through to zero
tolerance on retaliatory evictions, there’s likely to
be more bureaucracy to contend with in the future.

18

YOUR PROPERTY PARTNER

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR TENANTS
ARE MADE REDUNDANT, AND
CANNOT PAY YOUR RENT
Marie Parris
George Ellis Property Services

ANYONE CAN
LOSE THEIR
JOB AND YOUR
TENANT IS NO
EXCEPTION.
At the start of a new year, and with an election
looming this could become the reality for a number
of your tenants this year.
As a precautionary measure you should have written in your tenancy agreement a clause to notify
you (as landlord or letting agent) of any change in
the tenant’s personal circumstances. Also when you
conduct your interim inspection checks, it should
become standard to ask the question – “Are you
still working for the same company?” That way you
always have current contact details on file.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

Assuming you are aware of the fact showing some
empathy towards the tenant’s situation, initially
does help, but in the same conversation you need
to ascertain how they plan to pay the next month’s
rent and thereafter. Therefore practical solutions
are a necessity. Below are five options you could
discuss with your tenants to implement. Remember that your buy-to-let property or properties is a
business and you need to treat it accordingly. That
means acting quickly when rent payments are not
made on time. When you have a mortgage to pay
on your investment, and it is not paid, this will impact on your credit (or in the case of an agent your
relationship with your client). You must not bury
your head in the sand but find a solution to the
temporary problem quickly, especially when you do
not have other “funds” to take from.

19

OPTION4

Direct tenant to seek assistance through their local
housing authority. Regardless whether you like it
or not, a tenant can seek assistance with their rent
through their local housing authority benefits office.
As a landlord you should have an idea what rate is
payable under local housing allowance. Remember that if your tenant is under the age of 35 they
will only qualify for a shared room rate. Ensure
you have third party consent. Under your existing
tenancy the tenant will be liable for any top up
amounts.

OPTION 2

Use a proportion of their deposit every month for
a limited period of time, with their permission and
if you have access to it. This would aid as a top up
solution and their deposit would need to be re-paid
back. Again the option works best if the situation is
similar to that in option 3 and you must get a written agreement and the tenants to sign to this. The
down side of this is that your deposit is depleting
and therefore, you must ensure that once tenant is
back in employment this is repaid. If cashflow is not
your issue, you can still ensure you do not miss out
on your rent by deducting the agreed amounts at
the end of the tenancy.

Are there any savings to dip into that could be used
for a short period.

OPTION 5

OPTION 3

Get the tenant to surrender the tenancy (if they
wish).

Agree to reduce the rent for a specified period
of time to give them some breathing space â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this
works, especially well, if it is a joint tenancy and only
one person has been made redundant. Always put
it in writing. This option will work best for a landlord
who is not cash flow stricken and where they have
good tenants and would like to keep them.

WITH THE ECONOMIC CLIMATE
STILL LOOKING UNCERTAIN FOR
2015 IF THIS HAPPENED TO ONE
OF YOUR TENANTS WHICH OPTION
WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
George Ellis Property Services can be contacted on:

IF YOU ARE NOT
STARTING OUT
WITH A LARGE SUM
OF MONEY WITH
WHICH TO INVEST,
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
One way to move ahead with your property business is to work with Investors. They bring the cash,
whilst you bring hard graft and expertise. I started
by pulling money out of my personal home mortgage and investing that into my first two buy to
keep projects. After that I would have been stuck
if people had not taken an interest in working with
me.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

There are 7 important stages for you to consider
when running a Buy to Sell project with a JV partner, they are:

Remember that when entering into a partnership
with another investor, the position you want to be
taking is one of team mentality. You are working
shoulder to shoulder; it should not be an ‘us and
them’ situation.

23

GREAT PROPERTY TIPS

PRE DEAL
Start by discussing the working relationship principles; you will be discussing the structure of the
deal and the level of deal spend – we suggest starting small, have a test case to suss out your working
relationship.
Go through the ‘what ifs’ - what could go wrong!
Be aware of the statistics, for example, 1 in 3 deals
falls out of bed; this will help set your partner’s expectations. I find this is really important to follow,
you don’t want to promise your partners the earth
and sky; they need to understand it’s an entrepreneurial business with risks involved; by being clear
about those risks, you are both already prepared if
they do crop up.
Agree communication with your partner, both the
frequency and your preferred method. Communication is often something that slips when you’re
busy running a project; you must remember that
you are the only way your partner will keep up to
date with the project.

DEAL PURCHASE
Become your partner’s ‘Office Manager’; as you’re
buying the property you will do a lot of the admin
even if the deal is in your partner’s name, be aware
there’s a lot more work involved in conveyancing
property than first meets the eye; you need clear
processes and a lot of time!
Be mindful that at this stage most investors get
what we have termed Investor Wobble, even me!
The best way to help your investor not to have too
many sleepless nights is to communicate frequently, so they know the project is being well managed
by you.

PROPERTY REFURB
Now that you’ve bought the property your next
step is to refurbish it. First, consult the experts,
the estate agents, who know what people require
in their particular area – for example open plan living/ kitchen, or an en-suite in the master bedroom.
This is a great opportunity for you and your partner to have a joint meeting with estate agents to
kick off the project and confirm the refurb that you
will be managing.
Remember Investor Wobble... Where your partner
gets worried; you’re so busy managing a project
you forget to talk to them as you know it’s all in
hand. So, step out of your own business for a moment and get back to communicating with your
partner, whether this is via telephone, by sharing
photos of the project, or meeting on site. Regular
financial updates will avoid unwelcome surprises
and if ever you hit a speed bump discuss it with
your partner.

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

24

GREAT PROPERTY TIPS

POST REFURB & 'DRESSING'
Well done! You’ve managed the refurb successfully
and now you’re almost ready to put the property
back on the market.
Here’s another opportunity to meet with your JV
partner. I suggest you meet up with a minimum
of 3 estate agents to confirm your selling price and
agent. Getting feedback on your property from the
agent will help your partner see that it’s the market place speaking as to end value, not you. This
often helps confirm your expertise in their eyes as
the estate agents will undoubtedly be pleased with
what you’ve developed.
After the meeting with the estate agent, you and
your partner agree the selling strategy; this should
include any price drops and the pre-planned
timescales for those should the property not be
snapped up immediately; in the current marketplace, we look to hold a price for 4 weeks, put in
the first drop after two weeks, then put in a second
price drop two weeks after that. Remember Return
on Capital Employed (ROCE) is a function of time
and money and so you want to sell as fast as you
can.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

MEET SUSANNAH, WHO WILL PART TWO, NEXT MONTH...
BE HOLDING SEMINARS I hope you’ve enjoyed the first of two articles of a
practical running of a Buy to Sell with a JV partner.
Next month’s edition will cover the sales and conVARIOUS LANDLORD
veyancing processes, along with post sale analysis
legislation on how to be a sophisticated invesINVESTMENT SHOWS THIS and
tor. We wish you the best in your own successful BTS and JV partnerships, if you want to contact
YEAR INCLUDING:
us…..
Email: info@thegoodpropertycompany.co.uk

READING - APRIL
LONDON OLYMPIA - JUNE
NORTH LONDON/HERTS - SEPT
LONDON OLYMPIA - NOVEMBER

EVANS HEATING
UK ARE A FAST
GROWING HEATING
AND PLUMBING
COMPANY WITH
A GROWING
REPUTATION.
We pride ourselves on being the best at what we
do, so we can assure you that the work carried out
will be to the highest of standards and at a very
affordable price. We exhibited at the Landlord Investment show last year which doubled our workload and helped us to take the next step in our
business and taking on more engineers, we do a
lot of work throughout Kent for 7 of the leading
estate agents plus we have a large portfolio of our
own private landlords that we look after. We would
like to take this opportunity in helping out you the
landlord with everything you really need to know
about your annual Gas safety inspection.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

Landlords have specific legal responsibilities to
their tenants when it comes to gas safety

UNDERSTANDING THE LAW FOR
RENTAL ACCOMMODATION
As a landlord, you are responsible for the safety
of your tenants. Landlords' duties apply to a wide
range of accommodation, occupied under a lease
or licence, which includes, but not exclusively:

LANDLORD'S RESPONSIBILITIES
If you let a property equipped with gas appliances
you have three main responsibilities:

TRADE SERVICES



Maintenance: pipework, appliances and flues
must be maintained in a safe condition. Gas
appliances should be serviced in accordance with
the manufacturer’s instructions. If these are not
available it is recommended that they are serviced
annually unless advised otherwise by a Gas Safe
registered engineer.

 Gas safety checks: a 12 monthly gas safety check
must be carried out on every gas appliance/flue.
A gas safety check will make sure gas fittings and
appliances are safe to use.

An example of an old, but maintained back boiler.

Record: a record of the annual gas safety check
must be provided to your tenant within 28 days
of the check being completed or to new tenants
before they move in. Landlords must keep copies
of the gas safety certificate for two years.
All installation, maintenance and safety checks need
to be carried out by a gas safe registered engineer.
If a tenant has their own gas appliance that you
have not provided, then you are responsible for
the maintenance of the gas pipework but not for
the actual appliance.
You should also make sure your tenants know
where to turn off the gas and what to do in the
event of a gas emergency.

An example of a good flame.

Bad flame: Sure signs that the injectors are blocked.

Disaster: The importance of having your boiler serviced annually.

GAS SAFETY FOR LANDLORDS
Running a property can be a stressful business.
But are you aware of your legal gas safety duties
as a landlord? Every year, landlords are conned by
illegal gas workers who perform poor gas work,
causing serious illness and death of tenants. And if
it’s your property, it’s your responsibility.

WHAT IF MY TENANT WON'T
ALLOW ME ACCESS TO THE
PROPERTY?
The contract you draw up with the tenant should
allow you access for any maintenance or safety
check work to be carried out. You have to take ‘all
reasonable steps’ to ensure this work is carried
out, and this may involve giving written notice to
a tenant requesting access, and explaining the
reason. Keep a record of any action, in case a tenant
refuses access and you have to demonstrate what
steps have been taken.

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

TRADE SERVICES

28

WHAT IF I'M ONLY RENTING MY
PROPERTY FOR A SHORT PERIOD
OF TIME?
Even if a property is only rented for a short period
of time, perhaps only a week as a holiday home,
you are still a landlord and have specific duties for
gas safety. For information on landlords' gas safety
responsibilities which apply to short term lets.
What is carbon monoxide?
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a highly poisonous
substance produced by the incomplete burning of
gas and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). This happens
when a gas appliance has been incorrectly fitted,
badly repaired or poorly maintained. It can also
occur if flues, chimneys or vents are blocked. Oil
and solid fuels such as coal, wood, petrol and oil
can also produce carbon monoxide.
How do I avoid a carbon monoxide leak in my home?
Your home may show signs of carbon monoxide.
Any one of the following could be a sign that there
is carbon monoxide in your home.
• The flame on your cooker should be crisp and
blue. Lazy yellow or orange flames mean you
need to get your cooker checked
• Dark staining around or on appliances
• Pilot lights that frequently blow out
• Increased condensation inside windows

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

If you have a faulty appliance in your home, it could
lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Get your
gas appliances checked by a Gas Safe registered
engineer to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
Because carbon monoxide has no taste, smell or
colour. Gas Safe Register strongly recommends
that, as a second line of defence you install an
audible carbon monoxide detector.
We at Evans Heating UK understand the importance
of your gas safety checks and we also understand
that these can be easily forgotten about, but don’t
worry, we wont let you forget about it, you will
be added to our database and you will receive a
reminder letter one month before its due date.
We will then liaise straight with the tenants and
work around them, whether it be late evenings
or weekends due to work commitments we will
ensure this is completed on time. We offer great
prices on our gas safety checks and the more you
give us the less you pay.
⌂

Residential investments

The UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading
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auctioneers with regular
auctions throughout the year
For our latest February catalogue visit our stand at the show

Vacant residential

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Entries continuously invited.
Our next five day auction series covering Kent to
Cornwall, Isle of Wight to M4, London & Essex

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Entries close: 23rd February

Commercial Investments

Vacant commercial

Tel: 0345 8500333
Email: auctions@
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If you require professional friendly
advice regarding any aspect of the
auction process please contact us

cliveemson.co.uk

30

LANDLORD INSURANCE

THE PERILS OF
UNEXPECTED
WINTER WEATHER
Hamilton Frasier

WE ARE NOW
HURTLING ONCE
AGAIN TOWARDS
WINTER, AND THE
HEAVY RAINFALL AND
GALE FORCE WINDS
CAUSING HAVOC AND
DAMAGE TO HOMES
ACROSS THE UK.
This serves as a reminder to landlords that wintry
weather can be a significant threat to their properties.
With a prolonged period of cold snaps and winter
flooding causing insurance claims to peak, there are
many actions that can be taken to ensure your rental properties keep your tenants dry and warm and
your properties in good working order.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

It is recommended to prepare for this as early as
possible in order to avoid claims such as escape of
water, blocked drains and storm damage. Having a
yearly inspection during autumn, paying close attention to roofing and replacing broken tiles are just
some of the steps you should take to prepare your
property.
Below are some of our top tips for maintaining your
premises before the weather gets bad and what to
do in the event of an emergency.

31

equately insulated. It’s worth checking that this has
not been moved or dislodged by tenants.

respond quickly and undertake emergency repairs
to prevent further damage.
In the event that something does happen to your
property and you do discover damage this winter
here are some simple steps you should follow:

2. Make sure that overflow pipes are correctly connected and not blocked.

• With burst pipes you should use towels or blankets
to try to stem leaks while you turn off the water at the
stopcock or mains.

3. Clear out your gutters and downpipes and check

• Turning on taps to drain the water from the system
faster.

that they are free from cracks or splits.

4. Clear drain gratings of leaves and debris.
5. Ensure any external pipework is not lagged, including outside taps which should either be turned
off internally if possible and drained down, or fitted
with an insulated jacket.

ply with any special terms and conditions that may
apply such as regular inspections or draining down
of services.
Don’t forget it is also worth speaking to your tenants
so they can help protect your property too.

WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE TO
YOUR TENANTS:
• If your tenants are planning to be away, ensure that
they leave the heating on low. An arrangement that
involves you making a contribution to heating costs
would be prudent as your tenants will be more likely
to do this.

• Turn off the source for hot water and central heating.
• Arrange for emergency repairs to be undertaken as
quickly as possible in order to prevent further damage or inconvenience for your tenants. You should
arrange and pay for emergency repairs and retain
your paid invoices as you may be able to reclaim the
cost later.
• If emergency repairs are made ensure you keep
photographs and receipts/invoices if you have not
spoken to your insurer before undertaking the works
• Contact your insurers as quickly as possible to report your claim.
Unexpected weather can still potentially cause severe damage to your properties even with the best
efforts and adequate preparations taken by the owner. In order to have peace of mind, a comprehensive
landlord insurance policy is recommended should
the worst happen. If you would like advice on what
additional steps you can take to protect your property in the run up to winter the professionals at Total
Landlord Insurance would be more than happy to
help.
0800 63 43 880 / 020 8275 7060

• Whether at home or not, doors between heated
and unheated parts of the property should be left
open to allow warm air to move around the property.
In really cold spells this could include leaving the loft
hatch open to allow warm air to circulate reducing
the risk of frozen pipes in the loft.
• Do they know where the stopcock or isolation
valves are located in case they have to turn off the
water to any part of the property?
• You might want to consider providing your tenant
with the number of a reputable contractor who could

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

LANDLORD INSURANCE

PREVENTION TIPS:
1. Ensure your pipes and tanks in the loft are ad-

32

LANDLORD INSURANCE

SETTING
APPROPRIATE
SUMS INSURED
Steve Cox - Alan Boswell Group

One of the challenges facing landlords is getting the right insurance for their property. After all, if
your insurance is inadequate, then your tenants could find themselves without a home – and you
without the rental income.

IT IS THEREFORE
IMPORTANT TO ENSURE
THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT
FORM OF INSURANCE ON
YOUR LET PROPERTY AND
THAT IT INCLUDES LOSS
OF RENT COVER.
You should ensure that the widest range of ‘perils’
available is included – many losses are not as the
result of fire damage, but storm, flood, burst pipes
and malicious damage. If your insurance does not
cover these and other ‘perils’ then it is unlikely to
provide the protection you need.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

HOW MUCH COVER?
It is equally important, however, to ensure that you
have the right amount of insurance. If you do not,
then an insurance company can reduce the amount
it pays out in the event of a claim (they call this
applying average).
For example: if you have a property that would cost
£100,000 to rebuild, but it is only insured for £75,000,
then in the event of a claim that costs £50,000 to
put right, the insurance company will not pay the full
amount but reduce the claim by 25% (the amount
of the ‘under-insurance’). This means that you would
only receive £37,500 towards the repair / rebuilding
costs and would have to find the remaining £12,500
yourself in order to have the work completed. In
addition, the amount of lost rent that you are entitled
to claim is based on a percentage of the buildings
sum insured and could be reduced in the same way,
if the cover is inadequate.

33

A BIT HARSH?

CHOOSING THE RIGHT AMOUNT
FOR REBUILD COST
The sum insured for rebuilding purposes has
nothing whatsoever to do with market value. The
level of cover required is the amount of money that
would be required to clear the ground and rebuild
the property (there will be an additional allowance
in most policies to cover architects’ and surveyors’
fees); this could be more, or less, than its market
value.

GETTING THE RIGHT ADVICE
It is important to seek independent professional
advice before making any decision about your
property owners’ property and liability insurance as
well as your financial obligations. You should always
ask your insurance advisers what experience they
have of dealing with residential and/or commercial
rental property insurance. At Alan Boswell Insurance
Brokers we have a specialist property team to
advise you on the most appropriate policy for your
requirements.
⌂

The surest way to assess the sum insured is to seek
a professional estimate of rebuilding costs. However,
for most standard-built properties, the Association
of British Insurers has a website that can be used to
obtain a rough guide.
It can be found at: www.abi.bcis.co.uk
For further advice contact Steve on:
T: 01603 218031
M: 07766 715654
W: alanboswell.com
E: scox@alanboswell.com
Alan Boswell Group offers a range of other
services including business, home, travel,
car insurance and financial planning.

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

LANDLORD INSURANCE

While this may sound harsh, it is actually very fair. After
all, insurance companies need to collect sufficient
money to cover all claims. If some customers do
not have adequately high sums insured to cover the
risk of the total building being destroyed, then the
insurance company will not be able to collect the full
amount of premiums required to cover all losses.
Premiums are based, not just on the likelihood of
a claim taking place, but also its assessment of the
proportion of a building that is likely to be damaged.

You need to calculate the total floor area – for
example, in a three-storey building, this will probably
be three times the floor area of the ground floor. You
will need to indicate what type of property you own
and its approximate age as well as the region it is
in. Once completed, the calculator will give you an
indication of the sum insured required.

34

LANDLORD ACCREDITATION

LLAS: THE KEY TO
SUCCESSFUL RENTAL
OPERATIONS
Fatima Begum
London Landlord Accreditation Scheme
LLAS had a fantastic year in 2014. We have built
new relationships with some very successful
organisations like Endsleigh Insurance services and
many more through project work, sponsorships
and hosting two massive events.
LLAS celebrated its 10 years towards the end of
2014, making it the longest running and the most
successful accreditation scheme in the country.
A memorable event was held to celebrate this
milestone, one that will not be forgotten. We
presented the event on a Ship. The celebration
brought together many that were involved from
the beginning of LLAS and some new faces too.
The 150 plus guests involved sponsors, landlords,
agents, local authority staff and associated
professionals from the private rented sector.
We had speeches and presentations delivered by
our keynote speaker and winners of the March
2014 award ceremony. Our workshops were
very challenging and thought provoking which
led to very lively discussions. We also did a Quiz
on Private Rented Sector, which was very much
enjoyed by everyone.
Following on to light hearted entertainment with a
drink reception; we had networking on the quarter
and upper deck, with many posing for pictures.
Once seated for the hot fork buffet, everyone
tucked into a wonderful selection of food. The
buzz in the room was absolutely out of this world,
everyone was networking over dinner, and there
was laughter and more drinking.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

As the DJ played the music, the quarterdeck became
a lively party as the guests gathered, networked
and enjoyed each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s company. The girls took
over the dance floor, with some singing, and the
drinks kept flowing.
All in all, it was a successful event which lived up to
its expectations.
The London Landlord Accreditation Scheme (LLAS)
launched in 2004 as a partnership of London
boroughs, landlord organisations and educational
organisations to recognise good practice and
improve conditions in the private rented sector.
The scheme provides training and on-going
professional development. This includes additional
training opportunities specialising in particular
areas of interest.
With 13,000 plus members, LLAS is the biggest
and most established scheme of its kind operating
throughout London and in many parts of the UK.
Very early in its life it became clear that the
scheme was going to be a success as membership
increased and following industry demand, the
scheme welcomed letting and managing agents

35

An umbrella organisation, UKLAP exists to promote
the LLAS model outside of London. Regions across
the UK are now affiliated with LLAS. You do not
need to own and rent a property in London to
become accredited by LLAS.
Of course, everything comes at a price and there
is no such thing as a free lunch. You will find that
LLAS courses are the cheapest amongst all other
schemes, saving you money in the long run with
no fees or contracts and also giving you the benefit
to achieve the knowledge delivered by experts
covering all aspects of private sector to help
you maintain what you are doing. With our local
authority expertise and experience, we can offer
our members something that no other schemes
can. All you need to do is visit our website www.
londonlandlords.org.uk, register your details and
book the Official Accreditation course online at
your chosen location. It’s that simple.

that sponsored the award/event to do the honours
and hand it over to the winner. It was a formal
black tie event, 300 plus attendees including VIPs
and high profile speakers and we had the pleasure
of having Martin Roberts from BBC Home under
Hammer presenter and Deputy Mayor Richard
Blakeway. The event had live musician, champagne
reception, and some keynote speakers delivering
their speech on the challenges and growth in
the PRS world. The night was a huge success,
no less than an Oscar night, with fine dining and
champagne all around.
As you can see we embrace and deliver on
networking events, and there are some upcoming
events in 2015 to look forward to, so watch this
space!
Thank you to all scheme members, support staff
and local government and industry representatives,
landlords and agents for their continuing support
to our success.
⌂

The LLAS and UKLAP are the most successful
voluntary accreditation schemes in the country and
form the backbone of the London Rental Standard.
The London Rental Standard is the Mayor of
London’s campaign to improve private renting
and promote good standards. Open to landlords
and agents, it allows those that sign up to use the
LRS badge, which is instantly recognisable across
London as a mark for quality. To join, landlords
and agents must sign up to our London Landlord
Accreditation Scheme at www.londonlandlords.
org.uk Once a landlord or agent gets accredited
with LLAS/UKLAP they can use our logo and give
tenants the confidence to know that you are a
responsible landlord, accredited by LLAS, widely
recognised as the scheme that sets the standard.
The LLAS award ceremony and networking event
took place at the beginning of 2014 at the Thistle
Hotel and was held to recognise and celebrate the
best practices and accomplishments of Landlords
and agents in PRS and awarded them for specific
categories. We produced awards and had them
engraved, and gave opportunity to each company

LANDLORD INVESTOR February 2015

LANDLORD ACCREDITATION

into its membership. The scheme introduced
a requirement that members must undertake
some continuous professional development in
order to maintain membership. Changes in the
law and court ruling have shown that CPD is key
to operating a successful and compliant rental
business in the current environment.

THE ATTRACTION
OF FLIPPING
PROPERTY HAS
BEEN AROUND
FOR QUITE A
WHILE...
Presumably since the Stone Age when the more savvy cave dwellers just threw some animal hide on the
walls and persuaded the Neanderthal couple down
the road to swap digs because it looked brand new.
Purchasing property and conducting some light refurbishment to increase capital value for sale or to
benefit from potentially attractive rental income remains a huge market - not just within the UK but on
a global scale. For your average landlord, this type of
investment is an important part of portfolio activity
but this sector brings with it several challenges with
sourcing appropriate finance being the most crucial.
There are a multitude of lenders operating in this
space from the high street banks to the more specialist lenders and challenger banks. It is important

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

not to discount the alternative finance market out
of hand as this avenue can often yield far more tailored, service driven products to suit the needs of
the property investor, professional landlord and SME
business owner.
Take Shawbrook Bank for example – a leading challenger bank offering a suite of lending options for
property investors. Our range of short term lending
products has been carefully designed with refurbishment in mind and provides a range of products for
various levels including light and heavy refurbishment. Perhaps most interestingly from a customer
point of view is the rate on their residential short
term loan product that sits at an impressive 0.69%
up to 70% LTV – currently one of the most competitive in the short term lending space.
Shawbrook work exclusively through the intermediary channel, using professional brokers as our route
to market. This underutilized model brings a great
deal to the table for customers wishing to source tailor made finance as it provides a whole of market
view across multiple lenders. With speed often being the driving force in the short term lending space,
(auction purchases being just one example), the dedicated Short Term Lending teams within the bank
have a reputation for their efficiency in dealing with
brokers to secure the desired finance for landlords
and property professionals. Amongst several ‘service
level agreements’ within the bank, one is the pledge
to deliver terms backed with a credit profile assessment within 4 working hours - hugely attractive for
clients wishing to move quickly.

37

FINANCIAL

An additional advantage is the ability to move the
short term loan onto a term product once it reaches maturity. The benefits are threefold – firstly this
allows the investor to change their mind should
the capital value not stack up as predicted (or if the
rental income is too good to ignore), and tenant the
property over the longer term. Secondly, should
a mainstream lending institution have a problem
with an aspect of the property that the bridging or
short term lender has overlooked, the client may be
stuck with no exit at maturity – quite a serious predicament. Shawbrook provide this strategy for their
short term loan clients and whilst the term product
may not be quite as competitive on rate as some
vanilla buy-to-let lenders, it does offer that security
of exit. A final benefit is that there is no minimum
ownership required. Typically, the high street lenders will insist on the property being held for at least
6 months before sale whereas Shawbrook do not. In
fact, should you carry out your light refurbishment
within a week we are more than happy for you to
re-finance - a refreshing product highlight bringing
even more flexibility to the process.
Shawbrook do not really offer much for the first time
investor and operate more with seasoned property
investors but in no way should this be seen as a negative. We are here for the long term and our criteria,
processes and focus on self-improvement clearly
demonstrate that we are determined to build a sustainable future for customers, delivered through a
highly stable and service focused lending platform.
This is further evidenced in the form of an ongoing
commitment to existing customers with initiatives
such as an ‘existing customer discount’ of 0.25% off
the rate OR the arrangement fee up to a loan size of
£750k (£10m for short term loans). Positively, Shawbrook retain a healthy appetite to lend and we oper-

ate on a case by case basis, assessing each customer
on their own merit rather than adopting the ‘tick box’
mentality favored by the high street banks. This approach often fails to take in to account the various
‘shades of grey’ that are involved in many cases involving commercial property finance, and we have a
range of processes that take this into account.
Shawbrook believe that it is crucial for the ongoing health of the industry to have lenders bringing
innovation and service to the table, delivered with
sustainability in mind that culminates in positive customer outcomes. We would encourage investors,
property professionals and landlords to engage with
a broker or financial intermediary to ensure they get
a full view of the funding landscape and the many
benefits this can bring.
⌂

Please contact us for further information:
T: 01277 751 112
E: pi@shawbrook.co.uk
“THE OVERALL COST FOR COMPARISON IS 6.2% APR. THE
ACTUAL RATE AVAILABLE WILL DEPEND UPON YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. ASK FOR A PERSONALISED ILLUSTRATION. ANY
PROPERTY USED AS SECURITY, INCLUDING YOUR HOME, MAY
BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON A
MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT. A BROKER
FEE MAY APPLY.”

SOME ARGUE
THAT THERE IS
ABSOLUTELY NO
NEED TO "BUY"
PROPERTY INVESTOR
TRAINING BECAUSE
EVERYTHING YOU
NEED TO KNOW IS
AVAILABLE FOR FREE
ON THE NET OR
WITHIN FREE CD'S
AND GUIDES...
With Google, you can find hundreds, even thousands
of Free Training videos, e-book's, guides, webinars &
CDs.

February 2015

LANDLORD INVESTOR

This debate has been ongoing for years. In fact
back in 1997 when I was posting on the subject, on
Motley Fool, then THE Forum of the day, trainers &
educators “selling” their services were regarded as
beneath contempt and yet, to be successful, it has
always been the case that substantial chunks of borrowed money will be involved, in some cases running
into millions.
How times have changed, today, post credit crunch,
the money lenders, mortgage companies, banks etc.,
are now starting to ask for “proof of training” before
agreeing to any investment lending.
Property investment is a very big multi-topic subject
and yet often investors try numerous strategies in
which they have little or no experience or training
and wonder why it didn’t work out as they expected/hoped. It’s a bit like a Surgeon working from top,
your brain, to toe, literally your feet. Of course they
don’t, the brain man doesn’t even work on your ear,
nose or throat. That’s for another Surgeon, and so it
is with property investment.
Investing in family housing, is a very different ball
game to HMO’s, Housing in Multiple Occupation, or
MultiLets, where very different Laws & Regulations
apply, which can change between Local Authorities.
You may decide to invest in run down distressed
housing, which can involve you in buying at auction,
a potential minefield, then fixing up the property,
another minefield of planning laws & building regulations, plus using either self-employed builders &
sub-contractors or employing a team of tradesmen,
yet another minefield and there are many more.

39

To go into property investment without any training
& education, even mentoring, is akin to throwing water into the wind, and a strong wind, and hoping/expecting not to get wet. (The PC analogy!)

 You don't know what you don't know.
 You don't know what you need to know.
 You may not even know the words/terms to search
for.

 You have no way of checking the technical accuracy
of any free material.

 You don't know if the material will help you with
your aims & objectives.



You probably can't tell whether the content is
current or out of date.



Are You watching/listening to a real "expert", or
just a "wannabe"?
The Paid For Training & Education will probably find
you, but, before you “sign up”, you should have a very
clear idea of what strategy you are going to develop, what strategy you are going to become “expert”
in, which brings me back to the Free Training on the
web.
Most of the Free Training on the web is promo material for the Paid For Trainers but some contain a lot
of really worthwhile information, and age is not often
a problem. There haven’t been any major changes
to the Law, HMO excepted, in close on 20 years. The
same applies to Tax Law.
HMO/Student housing remains much the same as it
was in the 1960’s, Rent2Rent; the “new” “No Money
Needed” strategy was operated in the 1960’s when
it was called Guaranteed Rent. I started using this
strategy to help develop my agency management
portfolio in 1969.
Buying run down property to fix up, is as old as the
hills, as is selling after fix up. Letting after fix up has
only become popular as tenants emerged from being regarded as 2nd, even 3rd class citizens to being
regarded today as mainly responsible, and buy to let
became an “acceptable” investment, which was not
the case pre-buy to let. Banks have also helped because they are prepared to give the owner a mortgage based on the fixed up value which often releas-

EXPERT ADVICE

But how do you make the decision, Free or Paid For
and if, Free, where do you start looking for all this
Free Training & Education without any hassle when?
es all the cash tied up, the NMLI strategy. There are
also big tax advantages with this strategy as most of
the cost of fix up falls into the “revenue expenses”
pot which can lead to tax free rents.
Back to the training, your best way forward is to use
the Free Online Training to form an opinion about
the direction you want to take, your strategy. Then
look & listen to the relevant online material which
should firm up your resolve to pursue your chosen
strategy and, most importantly, enable you to form
an opinion about specific trainers in your chosen
field.
For example there are many expert trainers in the
HMO field, but to be right for you, you need to develop an affinity with and trust in your trainer, they are
after all going to take you seriously into debt. Also
distance can be an obstacle and you need all the skittles solidly upright.
Another example is Rent2Rent, whilst this strategy
does not generally involve a whole load of debt, it
does involve skills that you may find difficult to master and contractual commitments that can translate
into debt, so once again trainer trust & affinity is paramount.
So how do you achieve your first two objectives? Decide on Your Strategy & Decide on Your Trainer?
You can start at The Landlord Investment Shows,
where I will be delivering a Free Seminar on Free
& Paid For Training. And/Or In the comfort of your
home, after all “Why Travel To Train”, you can go to
Property Investor Online, www.propertyinvestoronline.com which searches the Net for Free Training
Material. Reviews the material, including time spent
on intro, bio/content/promo/QA’s, Categorises,
Scores & Tags it. Then links it to Property Investor
Online, which also offers a Q/A email service to member investors.
As of Jan 2015, 104 videos (50 Hours) are loaded
under 12 Main Categories, including 4 hours of Free
Videos which are changed weekly.
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